The new emperor has just ascended the throne, and everyone is rejoicing. The new king has pardoned the old king and made him an "an rang" , which means that he is free from prison. The old king's wife is waiting outside for her daughter, who has been missing for three years. She begs the old man to bring her back to her daughter's tomb, where she can call her "zhen gao." The old man says that he has already resigned from his position as a general. He tells the old woman that the emperor has ordered that they have to get back to the tomb within a month. He says that once they get there, he doesn't know whether he will ever be able to return to the old gao. He asks the old lady to hold on to a bit of a kitchen in the northern bedroom of the old mansion so that he can return to his daughter.